RCN Flower class Corvettes: HMCS Shawinigan (K136), HMCS Shediac (K110), HMCS Sherbrooke (K152), HMCS Smiths Falls (K345)
HMCS Shawinigan (K136)
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Shawinigan (K136) Flower class Corvette. Built by George T. Davie & Sons Ltd., Lauzon, Quebec. Commissioned on 19 Sep 1941, at Quebec City, HMCS Shawinigan arrived at Halifax on 27 Oct 1941. She joined Sydney Force in November but on 13 Jan 1942, arrived at St. John’s to join Newfoundland Command. She left 25 Jan 1942 to escort convoy SC.66 to Londonderry, the first of three round trips. In mid-May 1942 she left ‘Derry for the last time, and in Jun 1942 was assigned to Halifax Force as escort to Quebec-Labrador convoys. She joined WLEF that November, almost immediately commencing a refit at Liverpool, NS. This refit was completed in mid-Mar 1943, and in Jun 1943 Shawinigan joined the recently established EG W-3. In Apr 1944, while undergoing another refit at Liverpool, during which she had her fo’c’s’le extended, she was transferred to W-2 and, on completion of the refit on 16 Jun 1944, proceeded to Bermuda to work up. At 0230 hours on 25 Nov 1944, while on independent A/S patrol out of Sydney, she was torpedoed in the Cabot Strait by U-1228 (Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich-Wilhelm Marienfeld). She exploded and sank immediately with all hands. A memorial dedicated to the 91 lost was erected at Shawinigan, Quebec.
(Naval Museum of Alberta Photo)
HMCS Shawinigan (K136) Flower class Corvette.
HMCS Shawinigan (K136) Flower class Corvette, covered in ice, Halifax, Nova Scotia, in November-December of 1943.
HMCS Shediac (K110)
(RCN Photo))
HMCS Shediac (K110) Flower class Corvette. Built at Lauzon, Quebec, she was commissioned at Quebec City on 08 Jul 1941. HMCS Shediac arrived at Halifax on 18 Jul 1941. She served briefly with Halifax Force and Sydney Force before joining Newfoundland Command in Oct 1941, leaving Sydney 5 Oct 1941 to escort convoy SC.48 to Iceland. After three round trips there, she accompanied SC.67 to Londonderry in Jan 1942, again the first of three return trips. Following a six-week refit at Liverpool, NS, she joined WLEF in Jul 1941, returning in Oct 1941 to the “Newfie-Derry” run as a member of EG C-1. She took part in two major convoy battles: ONS.92 (May 1942); and ONS.154 (Dec 1942). On 4 Mar1943, while escorting KMS.10, a UK-Gibraltar convoy, she assisted in the destruction of U-87 west of the Azores. She left Londonderry for the last time on 28 Mar 1943, underwent refit at Liverpool, NS, from 27 Apr to 1 Jul 1943, then joined WLEF’s EG W-8. Transferred to the west coast, she left Halifax 3 Apr 1944, and arrived at Esquimalt 10 May 1044. She refitted at Vancouver from mid-Jun to mid-Aug 1944, in the process receiving her extended fo’c’s’le. She was paid off at Esquimalt on 28 Aug 1945 and sold in 1951 for conversion to a whale-catcher, entering service as the Dutch-flag Jooske W. Vinke in 1954. She was broken up at Santander, Spain, in 1965.
(DND Photo)
HMCS Shediac (K110) (Flower class Corvette.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3554094)
HMCS Shediac (K110) Flower class Corvette
HMCS Sherbrooke (K152)
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Sherbrooke (K152) Flower class Corvette. Commissioned at Sorel on 05 Jun 1941, HMCS Sherbrooke arrived at Halifax on 12 Jun 1941. She joined Halifax Force later that onth but transferred in Sep 1941 to Newfoundland Command and left Sydney on 29 Sep 1941 to escort convoy SC.47 as far as Iceland. After two round trips to Iceland, she left St. John’s on 14 Jan 1942, to join SC.64, the first “Newfie-Derry” convoy, and was thereafter employed as an ocean escort on that run principally with EG C-4. She took part in two particularly hard-fought convoy battles: ON.127 (Aug 1942); and HX.229 (Mar 1943). Her westbound trip after the latter convoy was her last; after a major refit at Lunenburg from Apr to Jun 1943, and work-ups at Pictou, she joined EG W-2 of WLEF, transferring in Apr 1944, to W-7 and in Oct 1944, to W-1. Late in May 1944, she underwent a refit at Liverpool, NS, that included fo’c’s’le extension, followed by a month’s repairs at Halifax and three weeks’ workups in Bermuda in Oct 1944. She was paid off at Sorel on 28 Jun 1945, and broken up at Hamilton, Ontario, in 1947.
(DND Photo)
HMCS Sherbrooke (K152) Flower class Corvette.
(DND Photo)
HMCS Sherbrooke (K152) Flower class Corvette.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3455882)
HMCS Sherbrooke (K152) Flower class Corvette, QF 4-inch gun firing, June 1945.
(Library and Archives Canada Photo, PA-115354)
Signalman Jack Scott on board HMCS Sherbrooke (K1520, June 1945. In the background is HMCS Barrie oiling from a tanker at sea
(DND Photo)
HMCS Sherbrooke (K152) Flower class Corvette.
HMCS Smiths Falls (K345)
(RCN Photo)
HMCS Smiths Falls (K345) Flower class Corvette. Commissioned at Kingston on 28 Nov 1944, she was the last RCN corvette to enter service. She arrived at Halifax late in Dec 1944 and remained there fitting out until 10 Feb 1945, then proceeded to Bermuda for work-ups. On her return Smiths Falls was assigned to EG C-2, Londonderry, and made her passage there as escort to convoy SC.171 early in Apr 1945, the first of three crossing before the end of hostilities. She left Londonderry early in Jun 1945 for the last time, and was paid off 08 Jul 1945 and placed in reserve at Sorel for disposal. Sold for conversion to a whale-catcher, she entered service in 1950 as the Honduran-flag Olympic Lightning, but was sold to Japanese owners in 1956 and renamed Otori Maru No. 16 then, Kyo Maru No. 23 from 1961 until 1978.
(DND Photo)
HMCS Smiths Falls (K345) Flower class Corvette.